Switching a Perpendicular Ferromagnetic Layer by Competing Spin Currents

Ma, Qinli; Li, Yufan; Gopman, D.  B.; Kabanov, Yu  P.; Shull, R.  D.; Chien, C.  L.

doi:10.1103/physrevlett.120.117703

Switching a Perpendicular Ferromagnetic Layer by Competing Spin Currents

Journal Article · Fri Mar 16 00:00:00 EDT 2018 · Physical Review Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.120.117703· OSTI ID:1541294

Ma, Qinli ^[1]; Li, Yufan ^[2]; Gopman, D. B. ^[3]; Kabanov, Yu P. ^[4]; Shull, R. D. ^[3]; Chien, C. L. ^[2]

Johns Hopkins Univ., Baltimore, MD (United States). Dept. of Physics and Astronomy; DOE/OSTI
Johns Hopkins Univ., Baltimore, MD (United States). Dept. of Physics and Astronomy
National Inst. of Standards and Technology (NIST), Gaithersburg, MD (United States)
National Inst. of Standards and Technology (NIST), Gaithersburg, MD (United States); Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), Chernogolovka (Russian Federation). Inst. for Solid Physics

An ultimate goal of spintronics is to control magnetism via electrical means. One promising way is to utilize a current-induced spin-orbit torque (SOT) originating from the strong spin-orbit coupling in heavy metals and their interfaces to switch a single perpendicularly magnetized ferromagnetic layer at room temperature. However, experimental realization of SOT switching to date requires an additional in-plane magnetic field, or other more complex measures, thus severely limiting its prospects. Here we present a novel structure consisting of two heavy metals that delivers competing spin currents of opposite spin indices. Instead of just canceling the pure spin current and the associated SOTs as one expects and corroborated by the widely accepted SOTs, such devices manifest the ability to switch the perpendicular CoFeB magnetization solely with an in-plane current without any magnetic field. Magnetic domain imaging reveals selective asymmetrical domain wall motion under a current. Our discovery not only paves the way for the application of SOT in nonvolatile technologies, but also poses questions on the underlying mechanism of the commonly believed SOT-induced switching phenomenon.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRC) (United States). Spins and Heat in Nanoscale Electronic Systems (SHINES); Johns Hopkins Univ., Baltimore, MD (United States); Univ. of California, Riverside, CA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)

Grant/Contract Number:: SC0009390; SC0012670

OSTI ID:: 1541294

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1426519

Journal Information:: Physical Review Letters, Journal Name: Physical Review Letters Journal Issue: 11 Vol. 120; ISSN 0031-9007

Publisher:: American Physical Society (APS)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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